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Bailey Custom Electric – Manuel – P3

Bailey Custom Electric – Manuel – P3

by | Oct 11, 2011 | , ,

Manuel’s ‘new wife’ is a stunner!

Read part 1, part 2

This is a milestone for Bailey Guitars– Our first guitar to be finished with UV lacquer! As you can see it looks fantastic but there is more to it than just appearances.

This guitar is based on Manuel’s first guitar – he got it when he was nineteen and it is now just about played to destruction. I measured it very carefully so it should feel exactly the same if he closes his eyes, until he goes up the high end, as this new one has a modified neck joint to allow better access to the higher frets. Of course the super smooth feel of the new UV finish will give it away but I’m sure he’ll get used to that.

The wiring was customised to Manuel’s requirements: one volume, one tone control, a five way pickup selector switch and a mini switch. The tone control is also a push/pull switch which turns off one of the coils in the humbucker and the mini switch activates the neck pickup whatever position the 5 way selector is in. This enables neck and bridge single coils to be on at the same time. The fancy jack socket plate definitely adds a touch of class and was supplied along with all the other parts by Manuel himself.

Manuel is a great player and has become a great friend also, so it was a pleasure to build this instrument for him. I look forward to seeing him play it soon and I hope he finds with his ‘new wife’ another long and happy relationship!

Interested in having your own custom guitar made?

New UV Lacquer System

New UV Lacquer System

by | Oct 5, 2011 | , ,

Introducing our new UV lacquer system

The future ? It’s here at Bailey Guitars!

The crate turned up a while ago and we have been working hard ever since perfecting our technique. It has not been easy and there have been a few pitfalls along the way but the results we are getting now are truly spectacular. I will write a full list of ‘UV’ instructions in a future blog but first I wanted to explain a few things:

Why use UV lacquer?

Conventional lacquer needs time to dry- it contains solvents and these need time to evaporate leaving behind the hard shiny finish which is then flatted and polished to the mirror like surface we are used to seeing on guitars. The problem is it takes so long!

A cellulose finish takes up to 3 months curing time- even then solvents will continue to evaporate causing the lacquer to ‘sink’ into the grain of the wood. At the same time it will be getting thinner and become more brittle, eventually wearing off completely. Look at any really old guitar and you will see what I mean. This is fine for musical instruments, and part of the reason why old guitars sound ‘better’ than new ones, so we will continue to offer a cellulose finish for those traditionalists who are prepared to wait.

There are many alternatives to cellulose for example ‘two pack’ lacquer which dries by a chemical process – a catalyst or hardener is added to the lacquer hence the name. These do dry faster but tend to be thicker and still suffer from sinkage over time.

Our new UV Cure system has many advantages:

UV lacquer can be sprayed brushed or wiped on and is dried or ‘cured’ in minutes with UV light. It still needs flatting and polishing, so roughly the same amount of work goes into each spray job, but:

  1. It’s faster- there is virtually no drying time so this speeds up the finishing process dramatically.
  2. It’s thinner- this is great for musical instruments. Thick coatings can dull the sound of a guitar so the thinner it is the better.
  3. It’s harder- more scratch resistant and durable than other conventional finishes. It is also impervious to chemicals like alcohols and solvents and even itself once dry.
  4. It’s ‘greener’- better for the environment (and for us). There are no solvents- that’s zero VOC content.
  5. No sinkage- It won’t sink into the grain because there are no solvents to evaporate- when it’s dry, it’s dry!

Tomorrow never knows…

Our first UV guitar will be assembled tomorrow – Manuel’s. Billy polished it today and it is looking fantastic. I will post pics of the finished guitar ASAP…Looking forward to hearing what you all think.

 

 

Euan Malloch plays a Bailey Guitar on The Hour Show Tonight 8pm

Euan Malloch plays a Bailey Guitar on The Hour Show Tonight 8pm

by | Oct 4, 2011 | , , ,

Euan Malloch accompanies Alesha Dixon, playing a Bailey Bootlegger acoustic guitar.

 

Euan Malloch plays Bailey Bootlegger
Euan Malloch

Euan was asked to record a session for Alesha – a stripped back version of ‘Cool With Me’ from her last album release, ‘Entertainer’, which will be featured on  STV’s ‘The Hour Show‘ 8pm tonight (Tuesday 4th Oct). The video will be on the STV player afterwards so there will be links to the video online. Alesha is also hosting this years MOBO awards in Glasgow

Euan is a session musician and teacher based in Glasgow who also plays in two bands: ACUTONES and LITTLE EYE. We are delighted to be supporting another great player – he has played all over the world and heard about us through D’addario’s Bruce Falconer. He came to workshop & chose the Bootlegger (see pic)- after taking it home and playing it he emailed to let us know…. “The guitar is awesome!!!”

Thanks Euan and good luck! The whole Bailey crew will be cheering you on!

Build your own custom guitar – kevin – BYO 297

Build your own custom guitar – kevin – BYO 297

by | Sep 26, 2011 | ,

Wine red, single cut, with f-hole

Kevin came on Saturday to complete the guitar he started back in June. As he had wanted a gloss he’d had to leave it with us for spraying then come back to assemble, wire up, fret dress and set up the guitar.

As usual it was a full day with couple of hitches but we got there in the end as we always do!

This was Kevin’s third instrument to be built on our course! – last time he made this bass.

Build your own custom Bass – kevin – BYO 292

Build your own custom Bass – kevin – BYO 292

by | Sep 26, 2011 | , , ,

4- string bass with bolt on neck

Kevin made this Bass last time he came on the Bailey Build Your Own course. He brought it back with him for a ‘once over’ so while he did the fishing touches to his latest work I took the opportunity to get some pictures. Nice work Kevin!

Bailey custom acoustic guitar- Ziricote and Bearclaw Bootlegger-P6

Bailey custom acoustic guitar- Ziricote and Bearclaw Bootlegger-P6

by | Sep 22, 2011 | , , ,

Making the neck

Read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

The neck started as a roughly 2″x4″ piece of mahogany which was first slotted for the truss rod, then the shape was roughly cut out and the tuner holes drilled before installing the truss rod and gluing on the fretboard.

The next stage was to carve the neck and finish shaping the heel, then the neck was test fitted to check everything lined up OK before levelling the fretboard, and installing the position dot markers, after which the frets were installed.

Finally the headstock inlays were made and fitted- Our Bailey Logo’s are usually made by Small Wonder Music, but the ‘Penguin’ I handmade myself:

The paper pattern (picture of Penguin) was glued to a mother of pearl blank before being cut out with a jewellers saw, and the edges cleaned up with a file. The piece was temporarily fixed in place onto the headstock with just enough glue to hold them for marking out, which was done with a pointy scribe. The pieces were then carefully pried loose with a chisel and a mini router was used to remove the material between the lines. Black super glue was used to fix in the pieces as it will be virtually invisible against the ebony background. I used masking tape to keep things tidy and when the glue was dry the headstock was sanded flat to reveal the finished design. Now the guitar is ready for spraying.

The ‘Penguin’ inlay was designed by Eaun’s wife Beth who is obviously a great designer and currently ‘about to give birth any minute’- Best of luck and best wishes from all at Bailey Guitars!

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